Poll- What shop task do you dread the most?

[Cliff Newton]

The one thing I dread the most is resawing on my bandsaw. I must have no idea what I'm doing because the results are always unpredictable.

[Byron Trantham]

I hate cleaning up shellac in my spray gun! No matter how well I do, it seems it's still there.

[Tyler Howell]

Emptying the DC and changing Air filters

[Mike Evertsen]

I don't like dealing with clients. I'm not a salesman type person, which I'm sure is part of why I don't have a back log of work.

[Frank Pellow]

Looking for a missing tool.

[David Wilson]

Havn't done it in several years but I would have to say (going to the emergency room)

[Mac McAtee]

Cleaning off my workbench. Stuff just seems to collect there over time and I end up working on a space about 10" wide and 18" long.

[Jim Becker]

Hmm...leaving it?? :D Chosing which project to work on at the moment? :D

Seriously, there are not many things that I don't enjoy doing in the shop, even the tedious ones like machinery maintenance. I have no fear of my tools nor of using them to their fullest capacity. So, I'll have to agree with David...dealing with the boo-boos!

[Ted Shrader]

Sanding

Ted

[Brian Buckley]

Cleaning brushes. I never seem to get it right.

[Carl Eyman]

Byron: I mix shellac in a Waring Blender. When I get through it is a mess. I rinse it with alki and it's still a mess. I bring it home, my wife puts it in diswasher, and it comes out pristine (almost). There are a few spots where some solid granules (size of a grain of sugar) remain, but they wipe off easily. She uses Cascade in the dishwasher and I think that is tri-sodium phosphate based. I think you may be pleased if you try it.

[Marvin Ewing]

Cleaning up the shop .I do find tools i've forgot about.

[Lou Morrissette]

DC maintenance, for sure.:mad:

[Jason Tuinstra]

Cliff, that's a funny question. In point of fact, there are many things that become tedious and even boring in woodworking. I've often thought, "If I don't enjoy sanding, planing, changing bags, fixing tools, mortising 150 times for one project, why do I woodwork?" I've come to the conclusion that my chief joy in woodworking is getting to behold something that is finished. In my labors as a pastor I am always dealing with works in progress, including myself of course. In woodworking, you have obstacles and hurdles that are not always fun, often tedious, and many times frustrating, but you inevitably reach a point where you say, "Finished!" That's what drives me and that's the joy that I find even in the journey. When the sum of all the pieces work together to make a beautiful piece of usable furniture that radiates with natural beauty, that's what it's all about for me. And for me, often times the more unpleasant things you have to do, i.e. things that add to the overall workload like mortised joints, dovetails, pinned joints, etc., the more beauty and satisfaction there is when you're all done. Woodworking is real life in so many ways, isn't it?

[Bob Fuller]

Cleaning off my workbench. Stuff just seems to collect there over time and I end up working on a space about 10" wide and 18" long.
How do you keep so large a space? I end up having to push things into a pile just to get any space on the bench.

[David Plaskett]

Sanding and looking for tool I just used.

[Dave Wright #2]

Sanding, especially inside corners. I eventually got so tired of it that I broke down and learned how to use planes. I still sand, but only a quick pass of 220 to even out the sheen and remove any remaining plane/scraper marks before finishing. I use all the sequencing, masking, and prefinishing tricks, and usually manage to avoid corner sanding completely.

[Scott Parks]

Sanding for sure... It's messy, and makes me sick... Not to mention I do it outside, so I get dust all over the cars and the house.

[Dan Gill]

Finishing. I'm not real fond of sanding, but finishing seems to take forever.

[Lars Thomas]

I hate emptying the DC bags. It probably would be so bad if I didn’t let them fill up to the band.

To the folks fed up with sanding, get yourself a scraper and sanding will become less of a chore (of course you might hate the scraper too - but hey, at least its not sanding!)

Another thing I try to avoid is painted projects. I have no problem with traditional finishes - it's just the painting that drives me up a wall.

[Larry Browning]

I would gladly do all of the above tasks, because that would mean I was in the shop! I have been at work for 12-14 hours a day 7 days a week for over a month now and I don't seeing it letting up until after new years. Gotta go, more code to write.

Larry

[everett lowell]

finishing. I love the building but i dread the finishing because i have a lot to learn about that.:o

[Donnie Raines]

Makeing sure all my tools are in good shape....IE square, flat etc....

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I'm with You TYLER. Bringing it upstairs and out the garage to wherever I need mulch.

Then I have to clean up the route.

Bruce

[Keith Christopher]

changing from dado blade back to saw blade. I'm seriously thinking of buying a second table saw just for dado setups.

[Gary Max]

Waiting for the wood burner to get hot enough for some heat in the shop.
I hate trying to use frozen tools.

[Brian Hale]

Retracing my steps to find out where i screwed up.

[Jeremy Gibson]

For the last few days it's been a combination of trying to flatten the back side of a 1 1/2" (cheap) chisel from a HF set and doing it in a freezing garage. I know I have a cheap chisel set, but wanted something to practice on my waterstones. I have a 1000/6000 combo stone from Woodcraft. After two days on the back side at 1000 grit it's still not flat. Granted, the garage is so cold I can only stand it about 15 mins at a time. Who recommends I get a courser stone?? (and a heater)

[Dan Mages]

I would have to say it is cleaning up the shop

[John Miliunas]

Emptying the cyclone itself, isn't too bad. BUT, doing the filter maintenance is a job I probably don't end up doing often enough! :o Gee, I wonder why......? :rolleyes: :) :cool:

[Ernie Hobbs]

I don't like stopping, once I get going. It seems like just as I get things set up (after moving the strollers, car, mower, etc. out of the garage), it's time to stop.

Not real crazy about having to find a nut or lost wood chip on the floor, especially if it flies into a pile of shavings.

[Michael Perata]

Cleaning spray guns, especially airless rigs. Yeeech.

[Mark Singer]

Its got to be cleaning up the shop...that was one of my first posts when I joined SMC...a while ago...another is finding things I need in the shop......but I guess that goes back to the first issue....I just found another piece of Pizza....the cheese is green unless that could be broccli?

[Bill Murphy]

Keeping the field mice out of the shop. (stand alone building) There aren't too many things worse than seeing tiny footprints all over my tools and shop, not to mention the droppings!

One day I entered the shop to find a baby mouse sleeping on the headrest of my shop chair :eek: The little buggers even set up house in my drill press. I went to change speed on it and found the little love nest up in the pulley compartment. They even had their own stash of seeds up there.

I caught 12 mice over the course of two weeks. A few weeks ago I watched a good sized mouse run full speed right through what seemed to be a very small space under the back door of the shop. I've sealed up the space and haven't seen any further signs of them for a couple of weeks so far. I think I'm done with them....I hope.

They're very clever little creatures....but very dirty,

[Frank Pellow]

Keeping the field mice out of the shop. (stand alone building) ...
Thanks Bill, this is a good nudge for me to check for any small holes in my new stand-alone shop before I get such an invasion.

[Carole Valentine]

For the last few days it's been a combination of trying to flatten the back side of a 1 1/2" (cheap) chisel from a HF set and doing it in a freezing garage. I know I have a cheap chisel set, but wanted something to practice on my waterstones. I have a 1000/6000 combo stone from Woodcraft. After two days on the back side at 1000 grit it's still not flat. Granted, the garage is so cold I can only stand it about 15 mins at a time. Who recommends I get a courser stone?? (and a heater)
Jeremy, I feel your pain with the lack of heat! I finally bought a torpedo heater to take the hard edge off the cold...I leave it on while I have coffee in the house then turn it off and use my Merlin QUartz heater that hangs over my bench. As for the chisel, sounds like you might need a coarse diamond stone (or a trash can) for that one!:D
Most hated shop tasks: trying to get rid of spider webs (I thought those rascals were gone when it got cold!) and cleaning the mess left after running the planer (no DC)

[Carole Valentine]

Maybe you need a shop cat? Isn't it amazing what a tiny hole those rascals can squeeze through? The worst thing is when they decide to enlarge the crack!